ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. field — farmland
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. firm — steady
  9. rash — hasty
  10. firm — a company
  11. field — a subject
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ground — a position
  16. wake — a trail
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. rash — a series
  20. field — for sport
  21. stem — to come from
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cold — not warm
  24. firm — decided

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com